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	Bobak Salehi (violin, guitar, vocals) A talented multi instrumentalist, Bobak was born in Tehran, Iran. He ventured into the music realm when he was eight years old, under the direction of his father maestero Hossein Salehi, and later studied violin with other Iranian master artists. He expanded his training into Western classical music by studying with classical violinists Anita Jones and Eileen Dies. In 1999 the Oregon Historical Society recognized him as master artist on Setar (Persian Long-necked Lute). In the same year, he founded the Damâm Ensemble, focusing on the classical and folk music of Iran. He furthered his studies by learning the Persian spiked fiddle or Kamancheh with crossover recording artist Kayhan Kalhor of the Ghazal Ensemble. While Bobak's playing style employs elements from Persian, Gypsy, Classical and Latin traditions, it is truely a new and innovative approach to playing the electric violin. He has performed regularly in the Portland Iranian Festival, the World Beat Festival and Northwest Folklife Music Festival. In fall of 2007, Bobak will lead the musicians of the Translation Project on an epic journey, as they meld with several other forms of media on stage..
	Massude Tahmassbi (guitar, vocals) Born in Lima, Peru, Massude is a virtuoso on guitar and a song writer. Having grown up in a musical family, performing came naturally to him, at a young age. In his late teens, he began expressing his thoughts and emotions through his original compositions, while maintaining a strong hold on his improvisational skill. Later on, he ventured into the realm of world music, and reconnected with his Persian heritage through learning the popular music on Iran. Massude plans expanding his knowledge and repertoire in addition to composing new original pieces for the band.
	Chaz Hastings (tabla/percussion) Another Native of Portland, Chaz has been studying world percussion for five years, starting with Arabic darbouka, followed by his study of the North Indian tabla, with Doug Scheuerell of Eugene. Chaz performed tabla at the Willamette Valley Folk Festival and the Eugene World Rhythm Festival, while studying world music at the University of Oregon. He plays a variety of musical genres and has most recently begun studying Latin instruments such as Conga and Cajon. Chaz will to travel to India in the first part of 2006, to study tabla in depth with the master player Vishal Nagar.
	Bernardo Gomez (acoustic bass) Bernardo Gomez first started playing the acoustic bass in the 6th grade. After a few years he joined the Portland Youth Philharmonic Preparatory orchestra. Two years later he graduated from the Prep where he eventually became sectional leader of the Portland Youth Philharmonic. He attended Mt Hood Community College for two years before being awarded a music scholarship to the University of Arizona in Tucson. After College Bernardo spent some time exploring Jazz before returning to his Latin roots.
	Nat Hulskamp (guitar, oud) Nat was born in Portland, OR. He has studied gamelan music and lived in Bali, Indonesia. His interest in Flamenco led him to study with Tarik and Julia Banzi of Al Andalus. He continued to pursue his interest in the Arabic roots of flamenco with study in Morocco. After returning to the US, he moved to Seattle to study ethnomusicology at the University of Washington. There he worked with the groups Carmona Flamenco, The Rez Quartet and others ranging in style from Hungarian Csardas and Gypsy swing to flamenco. He now resides in Portland, where he performs regularly with râz , Shabâvâ (his other join project with Bobak), and Puro Arte Flamenco Dance Company. Visit Nat's website.
	Al Criado (electric bass) A native of Cuba, Al has toured internationally with a wide array of jazz and Latin jazz stars, as well as keeping a heavy load of students. Some of the more outstanding jazz artists include Gary Hobbs (Chase Music), Russian pianist Andrei Kitaev, Ed Bisquera and Suzi Stern-Luna. His most recent project has been the construction of his state-of-the-art recording studio, where he can focus more on recording and producing.
	Martin Zarzar (percussion, vocals) Martin was born in Lima, Peru. He began to study drum-set and hand percussion at age thirteen, and his professional music career began at age fifteen in Portland, OR when he met the group Al Andalus, with whom he traveled, performed, and recorded. In 1996 he was awarded a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, and he now holds a Magna Cum Laude Bachelor's Degree in Drum-Set Performance. He has traveled as a performer to Europe, Canada, South America, and within the United States, performing alongside Simon Shahin, Jamey Haddad, and Pink Martini, among others.

Annie Chen (flute, keyboard)
Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Annie moved to the Portland metro area before her second birthday. She began her musical endeavors on the piano at the age of 5, under the supervision of her aunt, Grace Chen. At 10 she
ventured into the the realm of woodwinds on the flute. Annie earned a B.S. in Music from University of Oregon (graduated 2000) and has played in various prestigous ensembles such as the University Symphony (at the University of Oregon) and the Metropolitan Youth Symphony. When not performing, Annie enjoys her career in advertising sales and floral design.

Paul Evans (saxes, flute, percussion)
Paul was born to a Gypsy family. Unable to pay for the large amount of food he ate (which went straight to his hair), they sold him to the Bavarian Circus. On a trip to the United States with Cirque Du Grotesque he passed through Portland and was arrested for trying to eat a live poodle (part of his act was to swallow the poodle and then regurgitate it alive). In jail, he met the rest of the band members who were there for performing naked in protest to the Iraq war. (Hope you enjoyed reading this :)